Investing.com - Here’s a preview of the top 3 things that could rock markets tomorrow
1. All Eyes on U.S. Inflation
A raft of data including a crucial inflation report wraps up the trading week on Thursday a day ahead of the Good Friday holiday.
The Core Price Consumer Expenditure (PCE) Index – the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation – is expected to show 1.6% growth for February year-on-year, up from 1.5% the prior month.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said earlier in March that it expects Core-PCE inflation to rise to 1.9% by year-end, close to the Fed’s target of 2%.
Growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, is expected to remain steady at 0.2%. The Federal Reserve in its March’s monetary policy statement said that despite strong job gains, consumer spending has moderated from a strong showing in the fourth quarter.
The Labor Department releases its weekly count of the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the week ended March 24, expected to show jobless claims rose to 230,000 from 229,000 the prior week. Continuing jobless claims are forecast to rise to 1.8756 million from 1.828 million the prior week.
The dollar rose sharply against a basket of major currencies Wednesday, boosted by a slump in the yen amid easing concerns from the land-plot scandal engulfing Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
2. Natural Gas Inventories, U.S. Rig Count Data in Focus
Natural gas prices are roughly unchanged in March as traders await the final inventory update of the month.
The Energy Information Agency’s weekly natural gas storage report is expected show gas storage fell by 70 billion cubic feet last week.
Amid the shortened trading week, Baker Hughes is slated to release its rig count data a day earlier Thursday. The number of oil rigs operating in the US rose to a three-year high last week, according to data from Baker Hughes.
The weekly rig count is an important barometer for the drilling industry and serves as a proxy for oil production and oil services demand.
Crude futures remained on track to notch a monthly gain in March despite falling for three-straight days as traders continued to fret growing U.S. production, while a larger-than-expected build in crude supplies weighed on sentiment.
3. Nasdaq Set for First Back-to-Back Monthly Slump in More Than Two Years
The tech sector is expected to be closely watched Thursday after Amazon became the latest tech company to take the plunge amid reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is mulling a change to the company’s tax treatment.
The White House, however, said that there were “no announcements and no specific policies or actions” that are currently being pushed forward on Amazon.
Fears that Trump could target Amazon comes as media outlet Axios, citing sources, reported that the president “wants to go after” Amazon because “he’s worried about mom-and-pop retailers being put out of business.”
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell 4.38% to close at $1,431.42.
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), meanwhile, rebounded from a more than 12% slump Tuesday as analysts backed the social media company, insisting that the selloff on data privacy concerns were overdone.
“We recognize that broader industry headlines around use of data and potential regulation may be around for some time, but we believe the pullback in Twitter shares on Data Licensing concerns is overdone and we would take advantage of recent weakness,” JPMorgan said Wednesday.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite fell for the second day a row and is set to suffer a back-to-back monthly slump for the first time in more than two years.